Tag Archives: Cincinnati

It is FRIDAY BABY!!! And I’m off, for 3 wonderful days that will have wonderful weather to enjoy. In fact, MARVELOUS weather! I’m sitting here at my desk with the window open, breeze gently blowing and drinking my favorite beverage, coffee. Life is simply amazing! The last time I was off 3 days in a row, well I was sick and in bed so that doesn’t really count for much outside of sleeping.

I slept in today, 10 hours, 12 minutes of deep, restful sleep. That too was outstanding and energizing.

Last step of the current hooker project is putting the border on this gorgeous baby blanket, then blocking it before it goes up for sale. Blankets 5 & 6 are in production, as well as ruffle scarves, washcloths, baby booties and some other items. Once we have the suggest minimum of 10 items the store front will go live. Seriously, who wants to shop a store that only has one or two items? Um, no one really, I’d keep walking by that one in any mall. Same as online, if you don’t have things to browse, you won’t get much business.

Being away for a few days sick really made me miss my sweet old souls at work. It was good to be back, and even better to be told by them how much they missed me. My one dear lady, after assisting her with her morning routine, said “oh Martha, I don’t know what I’d do without you!”, which made me feel so good inside. We don’t make much, but you cannot put a price on that appreciation right there. Sure, I could cut corners but then I would not be providing the level of care they deserve and pay for, and God sees what I do/don’t do regardless. I do answer to the Highest power, after all. Brings home the “whatsoever you do to the least of these” concept when someone depends on you for simple things like using the bathroom, bathing, getting turned over in bed, dressing etc.

Mom and I had coffee this morning, in our favorite arm chairs in the living room. I love my off days for this, we talk about everything under the sun, one would think we’d run out of things to say! Then it was off to run errands and have lunch. I often look back over my shoulder down that road of life, the one that is a one-way trip, and see now that 6 years ago when my life fell apart, it was a blessing in disguise. I’d prayed to get out of the lifestyle I was living, just didn’t imagine when I asked God to change the hubster’s heart so we could break free of it and I could be done with the swinger crap, that it would get changed in a way that meant I’d be released to pursue better things. That blessing was spending my mom’s last years with her, sharing daily together our frustrations, smiles, laughter and making memories. While talking this morning we touched on the fact that when mom reaches the end stages with this cancer, it could get messy. She wants to remain at home, with hospice caring for her here rather than in a cold, sterile hospital or in a care facility. I realized then that my ending up getting my CNA certification and state level certification was no accident. This was never on my employment radar, I even balked against it, yet now cannot imagine doing anything else. When mom’s time grows really short, she’ll need the very kind of care I’ve been trained to provide. My niece is also state certified, and my sister is the top dog of a long term care facility and hospice nurse. One could say we’ve got this, it’s handled. Who knew when God dragged my sorry butt kicking and screaming down this road into the health care field that one day in the not so distant future it would be needed most on the home front? He works in mysterious ways sometimes. For now, all is pretty good, but we know each day is bringing it closer to the end when along this road will come a bench with her name on it, and she’ll take her place there to wait on the bus from Heaven, and we’ll keep walking on without her. I don’t think about it or dwell on that. I’m not in denial, it simply is not time to be dealing with that. We’ll cross the bridge when we arrive there.

Well those projects won’t hook themselves, so I’m off to join my cat, all stretched out and relaxing on the bed, with my yarn, crochet hook and another cup of coffee! YOU all have a marvelous afternoon!

Like this:

Once again fear and insanity has gripped my fair city. Seems nature shook the snow globe over night and OHMYGOSHWEAREALLGOINGTODIE!!! Seriously the news has been beginning to end coverage of the snow. Snow is far from uncommon in these parts and while winter doesn’t officially start until 12/21, it sometimes has fallen before Thanksgiving.

Our local news stations have covered nothing but snow today so if the zombie apocalypse has begun we are going to be playing catch up as walking cadavers descend on us because all we know here is that it snowed. Every available reporter is spread out throughout our city so they can bounce between them and show us that by golly that white, frozen crap fell ALL OVER THE CITY! Who would have ever imagined it would do that? From the first snow flurry that fell until it all ends this is all we get here for news. They even took over the national news shows this morning to spend 2 more hours talking about the fact that it snowed. It isn’t like it was the snow fall to break all records, it is 3-5 inches typically throughout the area. I know this, of course, because that is all they talked about.

Before all this hit the grocery stores were jammed with folks buying up their French toast supplies of bread, eggs and milk. My poor daughter actually needed to go for her grocery run prior to her step-son coming over today because teenage boys eat a lot. It was complete chaos and this unnerved us both. We could have sold the parking spot to the highest bidder when we left. Really, no one is going to get snowed in for more than a few hours to, at most, a day. The world is not ending as we know it. And who in their right mind buys bread, milk and eggs if they are going to be snowed in? Load up on wine, steak, beer, chicken, veggies, more wine and beer! Think this through people! Even IF the power goes out, stick the stuff on the deck, it will keep out there in the snow! And you can grill, just dig a path to the grill! Skip the milk, make sure you have gas for the grill.

Welcome to Wine & Cheese, my weekly, Wednesday whine session.

Every week on Wednesday I devote a blog to whining. Despite being a really happy, positive person, I do have things that annoy me at times.

I never let anything grate on my nerves for long but thought it would be fun to vent them periodically in my blogs.

I also feel that good things, the cheese in life, should be acknowledged as well.

I’m even going to throw in a bit of dessert, a piece of virtual chocolate, something that made me laugh or smile just a bit more than normal.

If you’d like to read the past editions of Wine & Cheese just click HERE for all of the past postings.

Sit back and join me now for the 74th serving of some wine and cheese!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

WINE

😦 I have been up to my eyeballs in crisis management of sorts. Where to begin?

😦 Dad is adjusting to the nursing home, and while he looks SO good and just over all is in such better health now that he isn’t smoking or drinking, gets good meals etc, it is still hard to see him there in a nursing home. Mind you, this place is top notch, like what I figure rich folks would be happy residing within the walls. The place is AWESOME! But still, he no longer can get anywhere quickly, even with his walker. And while he has more freedom in many ways (he can now attend mass daily, has friends and isn’t lonely in that big house by himself), he doesn’t feel like he did in his own home. I know that I’m facing his mortality head on too. That is difficult.

😦 Mom is recovering like a champ from her last cancer surgery, but again, facing the fact that she isn’t going to live forever is not fun.

😦 I am SO strapped for cash right now that it isn’t even funny. So any blip on the “you need money to pay for this” radar screen is going to have to crash and burn, I have nothing period! So a kitten who suddenly stops playing, sits in one place for hours and hours and is drooling like a faucet was enough to have me in tears all the way to work Tuesday. The story on KLOVE for their Home For the Holidays contest broke the damn resulting in a river of tears for 28 miles.

😦 I think one of my cats has fleas. Which no doubt means the other cat does too. SIGH. That other cat, every couple of days pukes up what she eats, just once for the day, if I feed them canned food. But still, nothing says “YUCK” like feline “feels like cold oatmeal” barf on the rug. Ewwwwww. The dog, I believe she has mange. Again. Attacking that as best I can but finding time to bathe her in the special shampoo that I am nearly out of (and it ain’t cheap) is hard to do right now. Then the kitten. Oh that little bad ass dare devil. She took a 12 foot fall and failed to land on her little feet. Thankfully she will be okay, thanks to a critter angel I cannot thank enough (she footed the vet bill). But she has some injury to her back right leg, and her jaw. Nothing broken but very tender and she must have been in a lot of pain because she was salivating like she was being paid by the drop. “Welcome to our zoo, stop by the gift shop for Avon, jewelry candles, and hippie oils and scents.” (That was courtesy of the Knight who thinks he is SO funny).

This is the Anderson Ferry, the same one that carried the semi that I was certain would be certain death.

😦 My trip to get the kitten checked out required leaving work early to go 28 miles home, then get the kitten and head back to Ohio to the vet. To cut the distance and time in half if I took the ferry over the Ohio River. Now mind you, I don’t LIKE the ferry much. I am not a fan of any body of water I cannot see the bottom, and fast moving, debris filled rivers are high on the list. But it is the quickest way to the west side of Cincinnati from where I am in Kentucky. So, I pull up to wait on the ferry, and 2 vehicles ahead of me is a semi. My jaw dropped. My thought was “no way pal, they are NOT going to let that big ass truck on that boat, ain’t happening sucker.” The driver, once the ferry arrived from Ohio and emptied of cars, flagged the car ahead of me, me, and the guy behind me, around him. This seemed to confirm for me that he was not going to be riding the ferry with his truck. Usually when you board the ferry, they fill the middle, then each of the sides. This time? They had us pull one in the middle front, then one on each side of the front, in a neat row. That is when I realized OH HOLY CRAP they are pulling that damn rig on to this boat. There is no turning back now. And with that, I feel the truck start to get onto the ferry, and the front end of the boat lifts up out of the water as the truck slowly inches aboard. As it got further on, in the middle, things returned to normal but much lower in the water. More cars now got on either side, and then we began to move SLOWLY across the river, my thought? OMG WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!! I was certain the ferry would sink and my kitten and I were bound for the pearly gates.

CHEESE

🙂 No matter how insane life is, mine is so full of blessings that I am never lacking for something to be thankful for each day.

🙂 While mom won’t live forever, and 3.5 years ago I was feeling embarrassed and like some kind of failure having to move in with my mom after my divorce, I was able to spend so much quality time with her, my sister and nieces. We all laughed daily, the memories I have of the Diva Den are priceless ones. And now, once again, just as mom says, “wait a year, the landscape of your life will be very different than it is now”, mine has changed and it is awesome.

🙂 I love coming through the cut in the hill on 75N in the morning and the first sight of the city of Cincinnati is gorgeous. Either lit up when it was dark (before the time changed), or as the very first light of the sun is starting to touch the faces of the buildings along the river front, it always makes me smile. I love my home town! Sure, I moved away, to northern Kentucky, but now I get to see this view of my beloved city every morning.

🙂 While it IS a pain to have to confine the kitten to our room and have her walking all over us while we’re trying to sleep…there is something so priceless about waking up to find her snuggled in against my stomach or my boyfriend’s back, sleeping deep and contently. You can’t buy that in a store!

🙂 A hot, fresh cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Simple things just make my day.

Welcome to Wine & Cheese, my weekly, Wednesday whine session.

Every week on Wednesday I devote a blog to whining. Despite being a really happy, positive person, I do have things that annoy me at times.

I never let anything grate on my nerves for long but thought it would be fun to vent them periodically in my blogs.

I also feel that good things, the cheese in life, should be acknowledged as well.

I’m even going to throw in a bit of dessert, a piece of virtual chocolate, something that made me laugh or smile just a bit more than normal.

If you’d like to read the past editions of Wine & Cheese just click HERE for all of the past postings.

Sit back and join me now for the 70th serving of some wine and cheese!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

WINE

😦 I really have NO tolerance for stupid drivers. On the way in today, on the highway doing 70mph, I watched a semi barely avoid running into the rear end of a car in the lane 2 over from mine. I have NO idea what the moron was doing, but he found himself on the tail end of the car in front of him and without looking swerved to his right barely missing the car as he shot into the other lane to his right. Fortunately there was no one in that lane or he’d have caused a major accident. Seriously people, put the damn cell phones down, books (yes I have seen people driving and reading books or newspapers!), makeup (really ladies, no one at the office needs to be that impressed that it’s worth risking your life and mine – paint the face at home or in the parking lot at the office) and just DRIVE!

😦 While I do love summer, not real fond of storms. Severe ones could happen today, and I dislike that. Yet we need that kind of weather here at work. Severe storms mean lightening that causes house fires, and wind damage. We get paid to fix the damage left behind. We need it but I don’t have to like it.

😦 Missing my honey. Long hours this week mean we see each other as we’re crawling into bed at night. Though if I have to chose between times to be apart, I do prefer to sleep next to him at night, I feel much safer that way, than be alone over night.

CHEESE

🙂 Got to see some of the Tribe last night from the direct sales circles. Love my gal-pals and it just motivated me all the more! And I signed up for another direct sales business…jerky! WOOHOO! I couldn’t help it, $12 to start another business was too good to pass up and I know SO many folks that love good beef, buffalo and turkey jerky. They even have jerky for cats and dogs. LOVE it! And yes, if you want to sign up under me, I’d love to have you in my downline, just go to my site and follow the links!

🙂 It’s COLD in this office and I am so happy about that. No complaints, as outside it is SO humid. I don’t mind, but as one of my favorite weather forecasters here in Cincy said, outside it is “air you can wear”.

🙂 I got my new jammies in my Avon order. I know that is crazy, but I really do LOVE jammies. Modest, fun lounge wear styles that I can sport while I take the dog out to pee without giving the old guy next door heart failure. I may buy a second pair of these, they are so cute. Coca-Cola ones from Avon. They will be in an upcoming brochure for those wanting to buy some. :)

🙂 It’s dinner with the Divas today. I enjoy my family and while I’m bummed that I cannot be there with my honey, it is nice to have my Diva time with my mom and sister.

It is time to slide into the confessional and let it all out again. Mamarazzi is on a blog break so they are linking up over at High Heeled Love. Come on, you know you have stuff to get off your chest!

:) Naughty – Oh I have been a really bad girl this week….yes really bad. I went and got myself involved in one of these time wasting, online games. On Facebook. I am so darn stuck in FarmVille2 that when I’m out running errands I have this nagging thought in the back of my brain that I might have forgotten to harvest something and will return to a field of withered plants. It is just pathetic, I know. They are just computer pixels, not real fruits and veggies, yet I let this eat at me.:) I didn’t care – Okay, I confess. The Cincinnati Reds were in the baseball playoffs…and I did not give a flying frog’s butt. Really. I am a hometown girl, I love my city and our teams, but it is October. WHY is the baseball season so long now?? It used to be long over by now didn’t it? Sorry but it is FOOTBALL season now, I don’t care anymore about baseball, those are the boys of summer. I also wasn’t the least bit surprised they choked and blew it in the final game yesterday. And I just didn’t care.

:) Meat – as in deer, ground venison. My son got his first deer of the season and brought his mama a few pounds. It is going to be mixed into my now famous, black bean chili. I will use both the venison and ground round, but not going to tell anyone around here in the Diva Den. They’ll only know if they read this today. But bet me they will forget by the time I get around to making it. Waaahaaaahaaaaa……

:) Over Indulgence – I’m using donating blood today as an excuse to over eat. Cannot have me passing out and hitting floor, right?

Chipotle Mexican Grill – this is the top of the food chain for me. LOVE this place. My all time favorite dish is the steak bowl, with white rice, black beans, corn salsa and cheese. It must be eaten with chips, and a plastic fork. Not sure why the plastic fork, it is an OCD thing with me, I cannot ever eat it with a metal fork for some reason. Go figure. I cannot live anywhere that does not have a Chipotle.

Holy Grail – West– LOVE this place! Great place to catch any sport on TV, eat awesome food and drink a few cold ones. Love the atmosphere. I prefer to sit outside on the patio so needless to say it is a favorite in the nice weather. LOVE me some Goebel’s Reuben Wontons!

Price Hill Chili – You cannot live on the west side of Cincinnati and not eat here. If you move to the west side, you cannot be an official west sider (the best side of the city by the way) until you’ve had your first meal here. They have way many more things to eat than chili. Every political candidate that rolls through our town has to eat here, famous people come to town and eat here. Go figure. It is THE place to run into someone you know, so it is not recommended if you are having an affair on your significant other.

Dancing Wasabi – I only just became a sushi lover this year, thanks to my daughter. OMG this is amazing. LOVE the atmosphere and the food. She has me hooked on sushi now!

Drew’s On The River – Nothing beats a few cold ones and whatever sounds yummy to eat while watching the river traffic or a live band. Another great place to be outside when the weather is nice. Nothing fancy, just a fun place.

Skyline Chili – If you are going to be in Cincinnati, the best chili ever is Skyline. It is a Cincinnati thing and it is GOOD stuff. 4-way bean for me. What that means to those unfamiliar, spaghetti noodles with the chili, beans and cheese. Only way to eat it in my opinion. Skip the onions, rude to talk after you have eaten it with onions. Besides that would be a 5-way if you add onions and I’m trying to watch my hour glass figure.

Sebastian’s is next on the list. Simply the very best Gyros around, ever! Trust me I have had them all over, and no one makes a gyro this good, that simple!

Plaza Vallarta here in my township is the best Mexican around. Love this place, the chips and salsa are great and the service is pretty impressive. My favorite place when I have a hankering for some steak fajitas.

Nicholson’s Tavern & Pub – “Cincinnati’s First and Finest Gastropub” is amazing! More upscale than the other places I love to eat, you’d want to go business casual, or at the least your best dress jeans. I’ve seen my fair share of kilts and bagpipes in there as well. The food is amazing.

White Castle – Not something I want often, as you can feel it clogging every major blood vessel and you will burp up the flavor the rest of the day, but they (sliders) are SO good. I hear that they are awesome for a hangover too, not that I would have any experience in that area.

That pretty much rounds out my favorite places to eat. My top 10 anyway, as far as home town munching!

Like this:

I found another great hop/meme recently, so jumping on board and linking up with Joyce, From This Side Of The Pond. Click the badge above to link up or check out her page. She posts the questions for volume 69 of Wednesday Hodgepodge so here it is:

1. Did March come in like a lion or was it something less ferocious in your neck of the woods?

On March 2nd, it roared in like a lion on crack! Tornadoes blew in Friday and while we dodged the bullet because they hit all around us (115 miles west, 27 miles south, and 27 miles east) it still rattles my cage when these happen. And 4 weeks before the start of tornado season in this area. Then we woke up to a light blanket of snow on Monday. Go figure. I’m very hopeful that this is not a sign of the weather to come this spring, I hate storms and very afraid of severe weather.

2. Speaking of lions, which one’s your film favorite…The Cowardly Lion (Wizard of Oz), Mufasa (The Lion King), Elsa (Born Free) or Alex (Madagascar). You might notice I left Aslan off the list. Including him would have made this question way too easy for many of you.

My favorite is Mufasa from The Lion King. I loved the movie over all because I felt like it was a good lesson in doing what is right even when it take us out of our comfort zone. Sometimes it means having to go back and right apparent wrongs but it is important.

3. What’s your favorite spot from which to view the sunrise or sunset?

Both from the sands of the beach. I think the beach is God’s therapy couch for us. Sitting and listening to the waves hitting the shore is so therapeutic and when you toss in a beautiful sunrise or sunset there is just no way things cannot look so much better.

4. To what extent is knowledge power and to what extent is truth power? What is the difference?

Knowledge is useless without action. As a team leader in a direct selling business I see this a lot. There are so many books, interviews, etc from speakers and authors that can arm my team with all they need to know to be successful, but until they put that into action, it isn’t powerful at all. I think it applies pretty much to any situation, all the knowledge available us useless until we USE it, then it is very powerful and can change lives.

Truth is critical. Lies, deceit and fabrication are dangerous. Truth allows us to make informed decisions. Truth IS knowledge but again, knowing the truth and not using it renders it worthless.

5. What is something peculiar you’ve seen recently?

Exploding manhole covers! I didn’t actually see it in person, but rather on the news this morning, from yesterday in our downtown area. The story carries a viewer video of one of the explosions. Very scary really, thankfully no one was driving over the cover when it blew!

6. Bottle water…your thoughts?

Well, in countries where the water is not well filtered, an excellent idea. When in Mexico I even brushed my teeth with bottled water (imported from the U.S.). But locally our water is very well treated and frankly I’m too cheap to spend the money on bottled water. I will fill a water bottle for convenience when I want to take some with me to walk or driving around because it is healthier than drinking soda, but I don’t make a big deal out of tap water vs. bottled.

7. What is your strongest sense?

Yikes good question. Probably my ‘6th sense’. That gut feeling that often guides us out of trouble. God? Mother’s intuition? Better judgment? Whatever you want to call it, that is my strongest when I pay attention to it. It has kept me out of trouble and bad situations when I’ve followed it, and I’ve regretted when I did not.

8. Insert your own random thought here:

Oatmeal. Yes that is the random thought that just blew through my brain (it is a rather roomy place lately as I seem to have missed placed much of it as menopause is creeping in). Thinking old fashioned, cooked on the stove top, oatmeal. Yum!

Like this:

As a part of the 100 Things I Love series, here are 10 foods I love. Not necessarily in any particular order, and by no means an exhaustive list!

Chipotle Steak Bowl – you just knew that would be #1, if you know me. Steak bowl, brown rice, black beans, corn salsa and cheese. I use the tortilla chips to scoop it up and eat it, much better than a fork and adds some crunch to the meal!

Mom’s homemade bean soup – it is SO good and has a strange memory attached. The super tornado outbreak on April 3, 1974 made bean soup a food memory. My mom was making it when we got home from school that day. Every time the tornado sirens went off she had to turn it off as we headed for the basement. We now swear in order to make it right, you have to keep turning it off throughout the cooking process.

Black Bean Chili – it came about one time when the ex hubster and I were going to try to make his chili recipe and we had black beans rather than chili beans on hand. So we used them. I’ve changed it up some and made it a slightly sweet chili, not spicy hot, but very yummy. It is a much loved and requested meal in the Diva Den.

Lime Garlic Chicken – mom has a fantastic recipe for it, it is a total Diva Den favorite.

Strawberry Almond Salad – this is a warm weather favorite around here. Chicken, poppy seed dressing, strawberries, oranges, almonds over lettuce (cannot recall what else is in it). It is a huge hit at my sister’s former employer’s cafe so she learned how to make it and now it is a big hit here. We all over eat when that is served.

Cheese Burger Soup – a woman at my former church used to make this and it is to die for good. The ex got the recipe and would make it for football game parties at the house or tailgating at the Bengal games. I think I need to have my daughter get me a copy. Or maybe the ex will just email it…

Weight Watchers Cabbage Soup – who knew, it is SO good! And supposedly one of those things you can eat all you want.

Gyros – but ONLY from Sebastian’s here in Cincinnati, on the west side of town. They are without a doubt the very best ever.

As a part of the 100 Things I Love series, here are 10 websites I love. Not necessarily in any particular order, and by no means and exhaustive list! I am going to do a 10 blogs I love to read another time so this won’t include blogs. It doesn’t include social media either, that is another category on it’s own.🙂

The Cincinnati Fire Department History site is one of my favorite. I have 2 brothers and 2 ex husbands that are fire fighters so I have an appreciation for the profession. The webmaster of this site did a lot of hard work and still adds things to it. If you are a fire history buff check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

My favorite place to hunt for bargains is Woot as I have found some awesome deals there. It has to be checked daily and most days I don’t find anything I necessarily want but every so often there is a great deal on good wine or electronics that I just have to purchase!

My latest addiction is Pinterest, a virtual pin board for sticking photos that link me to fashion, food, recipes, quotes, decorating ideas etc that I want to keep track of for future use. MUCH nicer than saving them in my bookmarks on my browser.

At the moment my Avon site is definitely on top as it is my income aside from daycare and the key to my future. I love this job and love the products. Visit me, you can order on the site and have it shipped directly to you, and your business is very much appreciated!

A proud westsider in Cincinnati, I love my local community paper to keep up on what is going on around me. I can read the e-edition flipping ‘pages’ and seeing the actual paper itself.

While I LOVE my Kindle, there is still something that draws me to the library. The Cincinnati Public Library site is one of my top 10 because sometimes buying books for Kindle isn’t in the budget. Not to mention there is no cluttering up the house, read ’em and return ’em. There are events held at the library so I use the site not only the check for a book but to see what is going on at the local branch. Or just go curl up in a corner in my favorite land of books to read.

That brings me to my library’s downloadable site for those times when I just want to borrow a book on Kindle and not have to go out to get it or worry about returning it on time. I need a line item in my budget for over due fees! Free is always good!

No top 10 would be complete without Google as I use it daily, multiple times a day!

And last but not least Amazon is critical if I do wish to purchase a book for my Kindle, not to mention a bunch of other great things!

As a part of the 100 Things I Love series, here are 10 activities I love. Not necessarily in any particular order, and by no means and exhaustive list!

The Museum Center – I LOVE going to the Cincinnati Museum Center, so much so that I purchased a single season pass for myself, with parking! I enjoy looking at the various exhibits of Cincinnati’s history, as well as other parts of the museum. I also enjoy the films in the Omnimax theater. I could spend hours just looking at the model of this city from years gone by, each time I go I notice something new. When done, I enjoy the gift shop, I could spend hours in the book section! If you go with me be prepared to spend time READING about things in the exhibits, I don’t like to just wander through, I want to learn!

Moonlight Tour of Spring Grove Cemetery – This past year I went for the first time and it is a definite must do again. I had no idea how much history is in that cemetery and under the moonlight it is just beautiful. And yes a tad spooky but that makes it fun! I toured the Civil War section and next year will be certain to sign up for a different tour (they offer a number for the moonlight tour night) to learn even more about those buried there.

Picnics for two – A beautiful day, a good friend (male of course), a basket full good foods and some wine. Laying on a blanket enjoying the shade and breeze. Talking or silently napping on a sleepy afternoon, that to me is a great time.

Small towns – I enjoy walking through small, historic towns like Aurora or Madison Indiana. Shops, a little pub for lunch, just a lazy day of walking around enjoying the sights and sounds.

Motorcycles – Nothing says de-stress like a ride on a motorcycle. Wind in my hair, wrapped around a friend and riding like it’s what we are paid to do. My best times with a dear friend have been days when we rode the entire day, a few hundred miles and some relaxing places along the way. I’ve only really trusted 2 men to ride me, the ex and Mr. Wonderful. Hoping for some warm days and LONG rides again in the Spring.

Darts – as in throwing them. I suck big time but I enjoy it. I am the only person I know that can hit a trash can 10 feet away from the dart board and at floor level, but I did it! I got into it while dating a friend, now my son tries to help me when we go out for a few beers to catch up. It’s sad though very funny to watch.

Walking – I love to walk, but really don’t do it enough. Great time to clear the mind, work through a problem, or talk to a friend. There are two parks near me that have walking areas. One is just a track with a few hills but nothing major, next to the Ohio River so I can watch the river traffic. The plus is the trains come through on the other side and I LOVE trains so it is a great place to walk. The other park has trails, with gravel paths. More than a few hills, some are serious butt-kickers, through the woods, over a creek…it is a wonderful place to walk if it isn’t wet out. Good exercise.

Watching TV – not many things I like to watch, but when I do, I have a select few shows that will land me on the couch to view: CSI, CSI:NY, NCIS, NCIS LA, Blue Bloods, Criminal Minds and football. These are about the only things I will take the time to watch on TV. Usually this is a Diva gathering with mom, sis and the nieces, popcorn and some beer.

Bowling – again, I totally suck at bowling but I enjoy it. My sister and I were in a league for a while, with the ex-hubby and my kids. It was a good time but haven’t been in one in a long while. I think I might need to take that up again!

Crocheting – My hook and some yarn are always a great way to relax. Lately I have 8 projects in the works and none is close to complete (except for Mario’s Bengal blanket). I am not sure why but I seem to have a touch of ADD of late and just cannot seem to get focused on them. I need to get at it again, best way to watch TV without feeling like I’m lazy and doing nothing constructive is to work on a blanket.